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Brief account of how Rubber trees (Ficus Elastica) 

 are grown in Assam. 



The seed ripens from January to March, when it is collected as 

 it falls off the trees, and afterwards dried in the sun. 



It is, properly speaking, the fruit, and consists of small figs, the 

 size of a pea. These, at the time of sowing, are broken between the 

 hands, and the seed thus mixed with the particles of the fruit, is 

 sown without any attempt to clean or separate the seed. About 

 75 seeds are in one fig, and go figs go to one tola. 



2. Germination takes place sometimes only three months after 

 the seed has been sown, and as it is very small, it must be sown 

 on the surface of the soil only, but otherwise, just like the seed of 

 any other plants, it requires as much light as possible from above; 

 sideshade is an advantage. The seed can be sown on beds, 

 or in boxes, or flower pots but it is most essential that the drain- 

 age of the soil be perfect, and that the earth never becomes soak- 

 ing wet, whilst, on the other hand, it should neither be allowed to 

 become thoroughly dry, but be kept always moist. 



3. As the seedlings are very small at first, they must be treated 

 with great care, and drip from trees above the seed-bed must be 

 guarded against. The soil must be kept loose and open. Vege- 

 table mould is the best soil. 



4. When the seedlings are 2-3 inches high, they have formed 

 already a little thickened root, something like a small a carrot, and 

 can then be transplanted very safely. This should be done on to 

 a properly dug nursery-bed, well drained, and the seedlings 

 should there be placed about one foot apart, in lines also a foot 

 from each other. 



5. After the seedlings have become 1-2 feet in height, they are 

 very hardy, and can be transplanted at any time of the year ; but as 

 the deer are very much after the leaves of the rubber trees, and to 

 avoid the great expense of fencing in a plantation, it is advisable 

 to transplant the young trees a second time in nurseries, giving 

 them more room, say 3-4 feet square each plant, and to let them 

 grow until 10 to 12 feet high, when they can be put out into the 

 plantation without fear that the deer will destroy them. They re- 

 quire, however, a strong stake each, as the deer will bend the 

 young trees down with their horns, if not staked. 



6. The seed of Ficus elastica, where the tree grows naturally 

 in the forests, germinates almost invariably in the forks of trees, 

 30 to 40 feet and more above the surface of the ground, and the 

 young trees grow in consequence for some 6 to 10 years as epiphy- 

 tes, after which the aerial roots reach the ground and increase ra- 

 pidly in size, until some of them reach a girth of from 4 to 6 feet. 

 They are very numerous, and it is not uncommon at a later age that 

 they are thrown out also from the upper branches 60 to 80 feet 

 from the ground, being first as (bin as whipcords, but very soon 

 increasing in size after they have reached the ground. It thus 

 frequently happens that the tree on which the young rubber seed- 

 ling first germinated, is killed by the more vigorous growing Ficus 



